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Chicago woman ordered to get help after 396 arrests

Fifty-one-year-old Shermain Miles has been ordered to get mental health and substance abuse treatment in a deal with prosecutors

Associated Press

CHICAGO — A Chicago woman who has been arrested 396 times in the past 35 years has been ordered to get mental health and substance abuse treatment in a deal with prosecutors.

Fifty-one-year-old Shermain Miles, who’s been in the Logan Correctional Center in Lincoln since December for violating parole, appeared in a Cook County court on Monday to plead guilty to charges she attacked a city alderman. She also pleaded guilty to trespassing and public drinking in separate cases.

The Chicago Sun-Times reports a judge sentenced her to time served in all three, because Miles agreed to undergo a mental health evaluation and get follow-up treatment.

Miles, who is homeless, has dozens of convictions for felonies and misdemeanors.

The paper says she thanked a judge for the opportunity to get help.

Copyright 2013 Associated Press